The Travels of Marco Polo - Volume 1

by Marco Polo

This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it.

This work is in the public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work.

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Genres: History, Travel, Nonfiction, Classics, China, Literature, Adventure

874 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1285

About the author

From 1271, Marco Polo of Venice explored Asia to 1295; the only available Travels of Marco Polo accounted China to Europeans until the 1500s.

Marco Polo spun a tale of how people gave a life of sensual pleasure and a potion to make young Assassins to yearn for paradise, their reward for dying in action, before their secret missions.

Stories and various documents also alternatively point to his ancestry, originating in Korčula, Croatia.

People well knew this trader. He recorded his adventures in a published book. People lost the original copies of his works.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marco_Polo

Reviews

[Stephanie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not an engrossing read, but interesting when you think about how this book was probably the first exposure people in Europe had to what other cultures were like. Interesting to see what Marco Polo thought was worth noting down again and again about the place he visited (were they Christians? did they have weird burial practices?) and what he didn't mention at all (what was it like to live there at that time?).

[Thierry · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Better carry the weight of a backpack than carrying the weight of not exploring the world"

[Stefani]

I'm going back to my rule of not rating non-fiction. This was interesting, but there's so many regions and customs and such mentioned that it's not very easy to keep track of it all .

[Rex Libris · Rating 4 out of 5]

The account of Marco Polo's travels through Asia dictated to another while he was in prison in Venice. There is actually very little Polo in this work. The first third is introductory material, and there are 2-3 pages of gloss for every page of Polo's actual text.

[Amanda Edwards · Rating 2 out of 5]

boooooring. too hard to read and follow.

[Maggie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Only partially read, but overall well translated by the Hakluyt Society. The text is clear and isn't flawed in any way beyond the biases that Marco Polo evidently had as a Christian and an emissary from a royal khanate during the 13th and 14th centuries. Interesting to see how this fundamental work shaped societal perceptions and later travel literature in the future.

[Hans · Rating 2 out of 5]

Erg omslachtig. Indrukwekkend, maar niet altijd nauwkeurig. Erg veel toelichting en uitleg (80 % van het boek).
Veel verhalen van horen zeggen.
Dankzij de series van Netflix heb ik me er een beter beeld bij kunnen vormen.
Vreselijke verhaaltrant.
In het E-book ontbreken de foto’s.

[Chris · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you want to read The Travels of Marco Polo, this is the edition to go with. A ton of added info, including background and fact checking.

[Todd · Rating 3 out of 5]

I almost gave up on this before the travelogue even began. There was so much introductory material that was rather dry, though perhaps important to give context and to explain the questionable accuracy of some of the content. I began enjoying the book more when I finally made it past all the introductions, though it was still somewhat slow with very short sections that gloss over most locations discussed. It was as if he just passed through all these areas but never really stopped for long. It was more interesting from an historical perspective and to finally experience the book myself. I do see its influence on some works of fiction (for example, parts of Ken Liu’s Dandelion Dynasty series). I read this as part of a long-term project reading some of the works mentioned in Around the World in 80 Books by David Damrosch.

[Wood Daniel · Rating 5 out of 5]

There’s an argument saying Marco Polo never left Venice. Either way it’s a great story.

Apparently in Nepal the Khan wars were so bad they had to scare away the “many great beasts, who lived off the flesh of the dead” with crackling fires. In one place they had village prostitutes for all travellers going through. Marco Polo said “this land would be great for young men”.. funny reading this but really sad, he may have preached the gospel but… I’m not sure….

Not very descriptive, he would have 2 sentences on an entire region and close off with “that is all I will say of this place, now I will tell you about…..”

“They are all idol-ate-ers, and serve the great Khan” x1000

[Mathew Benham · Rating 2 out of 5]

A 11-hr audio book. I don't know if it was the authors writing style or translation, or just the nature of the times this was written down, but I did not like this book as much as I was expecting. Overall a good classic book that I would recommend reading at least once in your life if your into travel books.

[Andrew Coffman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely fascinating. Much easier to read than I thought it would be.

[TheAgeofKite · Rating 3 out of 5]

Dry but a very interesting peak into the past.

[Nicholas Maulucci · Rating 1 out of 5]

Do not read the kindle edition. Poorly done.

[Spencer Van Dyk · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting historical artifact.

[Kristina Cornèr · Rating 5 out of 5]

Yule's notes are a treasure.

[Audiobook Heaven · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book, I listened to the audiobook version on youtube. I will leave the link below so everyone can enjoy it! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fo7RR...

[Bonnye Reed]

The ARchive

[Jon · Rating 3 out of 5]

The writings of Marco Polo himself might be fairly interesting, though because he wrote so long ago, much of what he has to say is hard to parse in terms of what he means. Technologies cease to be used, and even more so geographical names change. That's why there's a very long editorial apparatus that accompanies the book, often twice as long as what Polo has to say. The issue here is that this apparatus with this edition is itself very old, meaning that much of the sign-posting that's added still is difficult to parse. Add to that the fact that the annotation definitely shades toward the scholarly end, with lots of mention of other scholars and debates between them and quotes from non-English sources, such that the heavy level of annotation grows wearisome. I wonder if I'd have enjoyed Polo's work more without so many notes.

The book itself starts with a summary, by Polo, of his expedition, and then goes into greater detail. The details can be intriguing, insofar as he wrote at the height of the Mongol Empire. He mentions Nestorian Christians quite a bit, as well as Muslims and Buddhists (the latter often simply called idolators), and discusses how he arranged for communication between the pope and the Khan. Volume 1 is just that--half of the extensive journal. I plan to continue on to volume 2.

[Abdias · Rating 5 out of 5]

I came to this book in the context of having realized the great influence of Kublai Khan on the development of the Sakya School of Tibetan buddhism, of which I have had the good fortune of encountering through contact with it's living survivors. Upon meeting Marco Polo, the pope missed an opportunity to Christianize the eastern world, Kublai Khan asked for a hundred men of science and faith, the pope sent two that returned in cowardice before completing their mission. Sakya Pandita's timing was excellent, and it is possible that if not for the pope's interregnum Christianity may have had a greater role in Chinese affairs.This created an opportunity for Sakya Pandita that is unparalleled in history, to help an emporer desperate to alleviate his conscience, helping to save millions of lives. Kublai Khan, though not among the world's saints, had a dramatic change of character that many portrayals fail to recognize. This is the story of how one man can change the world through reason and compassion. Kublai's character, for those who can read between the lines, is deeply humanized by the text.I am hoping book two has more descriptions of lamaism but what I have learned so far about the state of affairs before Pandita's arrival is fascinating. A note about the preface, this additional material is as fascinating for the study of British Colonial India as it is for its additional and extensive footnotes. For those whose cup of tea this may not be, imagine yourself transported to the nineteenth century in the company of an aging British Colonel telling tales of a fascinating life of adventure, of course someone less interested may doze into their tea.

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

A pleasure, along with volume 2, as much for the Yule-Cordier notes as for 'The Book' itself. I'm not a Marco expert, never mind the Yūan Dynasty, never mind the thirteenth century, but by most accounts this is the standard English text these days, as it has been for more than a century, and it's the version Ezra Pound read, in the 1903 edition, which is good enough for me. Includes famously the earliest known account of Japan, or 'Chipangu', in a European language.

[Melanie · Rating 4 out of 5]

A large part of the book is just notes, but these notes do really help to understand Polo's narrative. Because the notes are from the 19th century it also affords us a glimpse into attitudes held about Polo at the time. Marco Polo's travels is one of those iconic books it always pays to read and this is, in my opinion, a good edition.

[Jim Galford · Rating 2 out of 5]

My love of history drove me to read Marco Polo. The writing is poor, as the author is not a good writer, but it is still interesting. Polo seemed to have been inclined to exaggeration and some fantasy in his descriptions.

[Mark Jarrell · Rating 5 out of 5]

A lot of interesting details and facts

There's a long introduction introducing Marco Polo and how the book got written.

The book itself is descriptions of places Marco Polo visited or heard about as told to the author by Marco Polo.

[Bryn Hammond · Rating 5 out of 5]

For Yule's notes. A treasure-house.

[Bill · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting content, utterly boring presentation.

[Isabela · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fascinating

MP was one of those lucky guys
Who got along with everyone
And who thought outside the box back when Europe was in the Darkest part of the middle ages.

[Bushra A. · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think Marco polo is exaggerating somewhat when talking about the Great Kaan, Is it intentional?. Plus I think he doesn't like Arabs "Saracens" as he calls them.
Also, I watched the Marco Polo show on Netflix, there looks like there are some discrepancies between the book and the show